What's Up With Mikki Moore?

[LarBrd33]

random thought...



if you traveled back and time and showed me this picture in the middle of the playoffs last year... my response would be: "What the hell happened?"

[acieEarl]

  Moore's rebounding has been pretty good lately.

1 rebound in 19 minutes with zero defense is good?

Yea the only reason he's even getting decent rebounding numbers is because doc has been forced to get him a ton of minutes. Moore and Marbury might be two of the worst defenders in the league. Kills me to see them both on the floor at the same time.

[D Dub]

I like what we are getting from Moore.  The fouls have been disapointing, but take it with a grain of salt because he has been playing extended minutes lately.  Guys like Moore (who's role is 10mpg backup center) are suppose to use their fouls liberally.  For our 5th big, I am quite pleased with his effort and especially his jumper.

As for Marbury, I was very critical of him early on, but I'll credit him for playing within himself.  His shot has been god-awful and to his credit he has recognized that and is shooting less.  As a backup pg he is serviceable.  I am still waiting for that 20pt outburst that Bankshot promised me, but I'll be happy if he can continue to deliver 4-5 assists a night without turning it over and he keeps fighting over those screens on D.

If SM ever does find his offense again, it will be huge for us in the playoffs.  It will force teams to completely change their defensive strategy every time he subs in for Rondo.   

[jdpapa3]

I think Moore and Marbury have been fine. We clearly don't have the simplest offensive or defensive schemes and it usually takes guys a while to get it. PJ Brown finally started to understand during the playoffs and I don't think Sam ever got it, unless the only play they called was for Sam to dribble to the free throw line, back the guy down and shoot a fallaway.

Moore will look a lot better when he plays like 10-15 minutes a night. His jumper will go down a lot more when he knows where to find it in the offense. That jumper is solid as hell hell and better than Smith's or Gooden's.

Marbury's shot isn't going down that often but he has been solid running the backup point. I feel as if the turnovers will go down a lot more when he gets fully comfortable running our offense. I agree with you, crownsy. Marbury and House (despite their past, which people played up too much) have great chemistry on the court. Their strengths play well to each other. Steph has been finding Eddie some great looks.

I bet Steph has a huge playoff outburst that helps us on our way to our 18th!!!

[Roy Hobbs]

Guys like Moore (who's role is 10mpg backup center) are suppose to use their fouls liberally.

I've heard this argument at least twice now, and I don't buy it.  People seem to have this conception that Moore is picking up fouls due to playing physical defense and bodying up his man.  That's not the case.  Rather, he's committing stupid fouls because he's either lost, confused, and/or out of position.

It's not the role of any player to commit stupid, lazy fouls on the perimeter.  All that does is put the other team into the penalty, and give them easy points.  Moore has been a disaster in terms of his foul rate, which is no surprise; he led the entire NBA in fouls last year.  This is a product of his failure to grasp defensive concepts and to execute them properly.

[the_Bird]

One of his defensive "weapons" is to take a lot of charges, but he often seems to be a half-step late and gets called for the blocking foul.

Still, if you're disappointed in Mikki's play....  what exactly were you expecting? 

[EJPLAYA]

  Moore's rebounding has been pretty good lately.

1 rebound in 19 minutes with zero defense is good?

Yea the only reason he's even getting decent rebounding numbers is because doc has been forced to get him a ton of minutes. Moore and Marbury might be two of the worst defenders in the league. Kills me to see them both on the floor at the same time.

I disagree completely that Marbury has been a poor defender since he got here. I have watched a guy break his back to fit in with this team with a pass first mentality, and a guy who is committing himself to hard nosed defense and staying in front of his man. If Rondo would follow his lead of trying to keep in front of his guy versus poking it out from behind he'd be a better player. He may not quite be into his scoring groove yet, but I love what he has done defensively and passing the ball. Once he gets his shot back watch out. Big Props for Marbury!

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

What's up with this guy?  He appears to be a terrible rebounder and an extremely weak defender.  Smaller guys are often getting rebounds over him or just pushing him out of the way and then he falls down.   It seems that more often than not he fouls more than he rebounds.  I think it's fair to say that most fans, including myself have been very patient with both Mikki and Marbury.  At least we can see some semblance of progress from Marbury, considering he hasn't played in so long.  But Mikki Moore?  If Powe can come back (crossing my fingers!), I don't see Mikki getting much time in the playoffs, unless he improves before then.  I think he's playing himself out of the playoff rotation.

I realize he's still learning the system, but does that mean he can't box out or grab some rebounds? You don't need to know a system to do that! I thought he was the main reason the 2nd unit struggled so badly against the Clippers defensively.  He gave BBD zero help defending the paint or boxing out to help the rebounding.

I wish only the best for Mikki, especially while in a Celtics uniform, and I hope he gets it together for the Celtics sake, but I'm just not feeling the guy right now.

End of rant.

I honestly think he's in a bit of culture shock right now. I don't think he realized how serious we were about our defense and it's taking some time for him to adjust. By adjust i mean be in the proper place at all time on the defensive end. He's a step behind on the defensive rotations and that's why he's picking up these ticky-tacky fouls in bunches IMO. Hopefully he'll be that half-step quicker on the defensive rotations in time for the playoffs, but if not, his body/fouls are put to good use. He's the only length we have off the bench tboot.

[Redz]

he's a bum

[crownsy]

  Moore's rebounding has been pretty good lately.

1 rebound in 19 minutes with zero defense is good?

Yea the only reason he's even getting decent rebounding numbers is because doc has been forced to get him a ton of minutes. Moore and Marbury might be two of the worst defenders in the league. Kills me to see them both on the floor at the same time.

I disagree completely that Marbury has been a poor defender since he got here. I have watched a guy break his back to fit in with this team with a pass first mentality, and a guy who is committing himself to hard nosed defense and staying in front of his man. If Rondo would follow his lead of trying to keep in front of his guy versus poking it out from behind he'd be a better player. He may not quite be into his scoring groove yet, but I love what he has done defensively and passing the ball. Once he gets his shot back watch out. Big Props for Marbury!

glad im not the only one seeing this, TP.

look, he clearly isn't very good at defense (marbury) but he has busted his tail out there. when eddie does this its "well, eddie may be a subpar defender and get burnt sometimes, but look at the effort!"

when steph does it, people go "god he sucks at defense!!"

[housecall]

The title should read "Whats Up with GM/Owners...for bringing him aboard.I haven't seen much to be thankful for yet(in this case).

[silvershamrocker]

Maybe Mikki's foul problems won't be so bad in the playoffs, because
1. He'll be playing less minutes (hopefully)
2. Refs tend to swallow their whistles more and let the teams play more agressively
3. He'll understand the C's defense better.

Here's hoping. 

[xmuscularghandix]

Marbury isn't close to being the worst defensive player in the league, it's just never been demanded, and he's always had to score so much that him playing defense would kill him.

Mikki is just too foul prone, but i think he'll be better once he's playing less minutes.

[housecall]

One of his defensive "weapons" is to take a lot of charges, but he often seems to be a half-step late and gets called for the blocking foul.

Still, if you're disappointed in Mikki's play....  what exactly were you expecting? 

Personally,im disappointed with Mikki...whatever defensive"weapons"he is good at should be down to a science by 10-11 seasons in the league,don't you think?

[rickyfan3.0...]

I think Steph and Mikki have both been reeeeeeeeeeeeally disappointing but nobody is talking about it.

Mikki not so much though, because he is just terrible and most people knew that.

again, explain to me who told you that marbury, 2 years removed from playing, was going to be a superstar?


if steph is giving us the 4 assits a night he is right now and ups his scoring to 8-10 points a night from 4, im very ok with what he's giving us backing up rajon during the playoffs.

Don't see that happening. Nice cartoon character picture though... see ya later

I just expected more from a guy I have seen get to the rim at will a few years back. He can't beat anybody off the dribble, which is basically the only element that Eddie House does not have, which is why we need Steph. If he can't bring us an additional dimension, I see no need to play him in the playoffs.

Mikki Moore is GOD awful.